Gambling and my wife. Did she choose this life?

'....Someone who really loves you
sees what a mess you can be,
how moody you can get,
how hard you are to handle,
but still wants you in their life.....'    - (My wife posted on facebook)


I have been with my wife for 11 years, she was 18 when we first started our relationship. Together we have a 3 year old son.

Life can be tough for some people by chance, not by their doing. I hid my gambling from my wife for seven years. By the time she became aware of my problem she had more than £50,000 of debt in her name that I had spent on gambling.

We moved to Slovakia (her home country) to start again, and I relapsed again after just one year. This time I spent more than 100,000 Euros on credit cards, loans etc. In Slovak law my wife is jointly liable for this debt with me by the fact that we are married.

We have lost our home, our jobs, and we live seperately by the charity of her parents. In Slovakia the debts stay with you for all your life, and only increase over time as more costs are added.

Did an 18 year old choose this life? This is how devastating gambling is to people's lives, please share this...and raise awareness....thank you.